Every date in this guide is read from the same season calendar that runs our pools — the one that sets your deadlines, so the dates here and the countdown on your pool page can never disagree. The 2026 regular season is 18 weeks and 272 games, from the opener on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 to the finale on Sunday, January 10, 2027. Here's the shape of it, week by week, with the dates a pool player actually needs to circle.
Week 1: the opener — Wednesday, September 9, 2026
The season opens on a Wednesday this year: first kickoff is Wednesday, September 9 at 8:20 PM ET, and the week runs through Monday, September 14, 2026. That opening kickoff is the first pick deadline of your season — the opening game locks when it kicks off, and in every format a pick on that game has to be in before then. If your pool starts a survivor season or a Week 1 card, get the group's picks in during the week before, not on the day.
Week 1 is a full slate — 16 games, all 32 teams — and so is the rest of September: no team sits out until the byes begin in Week 5. For survivor players this is the widest the board will ever be. It only narrows from here.
Week 5–Week 14: the bye stretch
Byes hit 9 of the 18 weeks, all of them between Week 5 and Week 14, and at the heaviest point — Week 11, with 6 teams idle — nearly a fifth of the league is unavailable at once. Teams on bye can't be picked in survivor, and every format's weekly slate shrinks with them (down to 13 games at the thinnest). The full week-by-week bye count is in the table below; if you're planning a survivor season, this stretch is the part to plan around, and we've written a whole strategy guide on it.
Week 12: Thanksgiving — Thursday, November 26, 2026
Thanksgiving lands on November 26 this year, inside Week 12's window (November 25–November 30). Football on Thanksgiving is one of the league's oldest traditions — Detroit and Dallas have hosted for generations — and the holiday week is a full 16-game slate with no byes, the only bye-free week inside the stretch.
One practical note that catches people every year: the week opens early. First kickoff is Wednesday, November 25 at 8:00 PM ET — a Wednesday night — so the first lock of the week arrives while you're traveling, not while you're watching. Make your picks before the holiday chaos starts.
Week 16: the Christmas week
Christmas Day is a Friday in 2026 and falls mid-window in Week 16 (December 24–December 28). The league has made December 25 football a fixture in recent years, and this year's geometry puts the whole week in the holidays: first kickoff is Thursday, December 24 at 8:15 PM ET — Christmas Eve. Same advice as Thanksgiving, sharper: picks in before the family arrives. The 16-game slate won't wait for dessert.
Week 17: the New Year's quirk
Here's the one that breaks calendars, including — famously — hand-written ones. Week 17 opens with a night game: Thursday, December 31 at 8:15 PM ET. Note the date: that's New Year's Eve, Eastern time. But because the game kicks off late in the evening, the timestamp in universal time reads January 1 — the next year. Any schedule that reads its clock in UTC will file this game under the wrong day, and even the wrong year.
Everything in our product speaks Eastern time precisely to avoid this trap, so your pool page will correctly show a December 31 game. If you're cross-checking against some other listing and the dates disagree by one day, this is almost always why. And yes — it means you can ring in the new year with a live pick on the field.
Week 18: the finale — Sunday, January 10, 2027
The final week is currently scheduled as a single-day slate: every one of its 16 games on Sunday, January 10, 2027. Kickoff times for the final week are set late — the league arranges them around playoff stakes, and until it does, listed times are placeholders. Your pool page will show the week as TBD rather than quote a time that isn't real yet, and deadlines will firm up when the league's do.
The finale is also where the format endgames land: a surviving survivor entry (or several — co-champions are possible) is crowned, and a Pick 5 pot that's been rolling has nowhere further to roll, so your pool's final-week rule decides it. Commissioners: re-read your payout plan before this week.
The full 2026 calendar
| Week | Window (ET) | Games | Teams on bye |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Sep 9 – Sep 14 | 16 | — |
| Week 2 | Sep 17 – Sep 21 | 16 | — |
| Week 3 | Sep 24 – Sep 28 | 16 | — |
| Week 4 | Oct 1 – Oct 5 | 16 | — |
| Week 5 | Oct 8 – Oct 12 | 15 | 2 |
| Week 6 | Oct 15 – Oct 19 | 14 | 4 |
| Week 7 | Oct 22 – Oct 26 | 14 | 4 |
| Week 8 | Oct 29 – Nov 2 | 14 | 4 |
| Week 9 | Nov 5 – Nov 9 | 15 | 2 |
| Week 10 | Nov 12 – Nov 16 | 14 | 4 |
| Week 11 | Nov 19 – Nov 23 | 13 | 6 |
| Week 12 | Nov 25 – Nov 30 | 16 | — |
| Week 13 | Dec 3 – Dec 7 | 14 | 4 |
| Week 14 | Dec 10 – Dec 14 | 15 | 2 |
| Week 15 | Dec 17 – Dec 21 | 16 | — |
| Week 16 | Dec 24 – Dec 28 | 16 | — |
| Week 17 | Dec 31 – Jan 4, 2027 | 16 | — |
| Week 18 | Jan 10, 2027 | 16 | — |
Windows are Eastern-time calendar dates from the season registry; game counts include every scheduled game in the week. Print it, pin it, or just trust your pool page — it's reading the same table.